Fantasy Football: Room for Paul Richardson?

Fantasy football owners are going to love the Seahawks passing offense this year.

Thanks for a change in philosophy midway through the 2015 season, Seattle’s receivers suddenly have more fantasy potential than ever before. The shift by Darrell Bevell to a more timing-based, shotgun passing game has already made stars out of Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett. Is it possible that there’s enough targets to go around for another?

Last night we got a glimpse of the guy who’s the biggest wild-card on the Seahawks wide receiver corps: Paul Richardson.

This touchdown throw from Russell Wilson is too perfect not to share again:

A perfect throw? Yes. It also was an extremely difficult catch for Richardson to make with a defender draped all over him in the end-zone. That kind of playmaking ability is a hint that Richardson can be a fantasy football stud some day down the line. It’s also not the first time we’ve witnessed Richardson do something special.

Richardson has a similar build to Lockett and can do many of the same things on the field. He’s not as polished or talented, but he may wind up being a huge value depending on how the season shakes out. At the moment Richardson is slotted to be Seattle’s number four wide receiver behind Baldwin, Lockett and Kearse. An injury to any of those players would most likely benefit Richardson most as far as target share goes.

There’s always a chance that he’ll force his way into the conversation though…

FANTASY FOOTBALL

Read More: DFS picks for Friday’s preseason games (READ)
Read More: Three deep zero running back sleepers: (READ)
Read More: Ranking the top ten kickers: (READ)
Read More: Early four round mock draft (READ)
Read More: Drafting suspended players (READ)
Read More: The Golden Tate era begins in Detroit (READ)

In his rookie season Richardson saw 43 targets, which he turned into 271 yards and a touchdown. However, he was just starting to get into a rhythm with Wilson when he was lost for the season. Richardson has the ability to double those numbers. The question is if he will get the looks.

Last season Wilson threw 489 passes, the bulk of which went to Baldwin, Lockett and Jimmy Graham. This year we’re expecting the distribution of targets to be more democratic. Lockett should eat into Baldwin’s lead while Kearse and Graham earn roughly the same looks as 2015.

If Richardson can pick up enough targets left behind by Cooper Helfet, Ricardo Lockette and Chris Matthews then 500 yards and four touchdowns is not out of the question. At the moment Richardson’s ADP is basically non-existent, which makes him worth a serious look in the final round of PPR drafts. At worse, Richardson looks like a potential bye-week MVP.

The post Fantasy Football: Room for Paul Richardson? appeared first on Cover32.